High Prairie St. Mark’s Anglican Church celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Anglican Diocese of Athabasca with a special service on Sept. 8. The Rev. Deacon Canon Peter Clarke, of St. Mark’s, standing left, and Anglican Diocese of Athabasca Bishop David Greenwood, led the service at St. Mark’s. Greenwood was the special guest for Holy Communion. The special service was part of a series of celebration events in 2024 in the Diocese. Parishes in Peace River and McLennan are also included in the Diocese that extends in northern Alberta to the borders of British Columbia and Saskatchewan. Anglican ministry in the High Prairie region began in 1886, according to the local history book Trails We Blazed Together published in 1997. A small frame church called St. Mark’s was built in 1908-09 east of the current town by the St. Mark’s Anglican Cemetery under the direction of Archdeacon Scott.